26 February 2023

Rovers extended their lead at the top of the Championship table with yet another fifty plus score. They opened the scoring when Riley Dean’s change of direction created space for Josh Hardcastle to score from close. FRom there, the score quickly moved on to 22-0 through the inventiveness of their halves, with Johnathan Ford’s passes sending Brad Day over and Hardcastle for a second, before Dean threaded a delightful grubber into the Newcastle twenty, where Jack Bussey gathered and crashed over. Dean converted all three touchdowns and only missed one other as the scoreboard rattled over. As Rovers looked likely to score again, Briscoe bringing them upfield from deep in his own half, Thunder responded with a breakaway try, as Jack Johnson gathered a loose ball on his own twenty to break downfield. He looked a certain scorer until Caleb Aikens chased him down on the twenty, but a quick play the ball and a good passing move along the line saw Alex Clegg race over in the opposite corner. Nikau Williams converted from wide to reduce their deficit to 16 at the break, which gave them hope for the second period. Rovers soon had other worries as Aekins limped off with a suspect hamstring injury soon after.

Rovers virtually settled the game soon after the interval as Mckenzie Yei crashed over after Day was stopped inches short, and Thunder’s indiscipline compounded their downfall, First Mitch Clark was sin-binned for use of the elbow, then Laidlaw was sent off for a head tackle on Luke Briscoe. Rovers’ Dan Fleming was also shown a yellow card for retaliation. The one man advantage helped Rovers notch up another five tries in the remaining twenty minutes. Connor Jones scooted over from dummy half after reversing the play, Joey Leilua powered over for a brace, off fine breaks from Matty Wildie and Bussey. He also sent Briscoe over in the corner, while Bussey raced over for his second after Briscoe gathered Matty Wildie’s grubber and passed inside.